Worst-Ever Quarter for Newspapers (Update)

Updated from 1:24 p.m.

Everyone knew it was bad out there, but maybe not this bad.

Figures that size up just how tough business has been for newspaper publishers were released sotto voce by an industry trade group last week, but word began to spread only over the last few days: Sales of print ads during the first quarter fell nearly 30% industry-wide, according to the Newspaper Association of America -- the worst drop since record-keeping began, in 1950.

To put it another way: Even assuming that sales remain flat for the rest of the year, print ad sales will have fallen to levels -- about $26 billion in total for the industry -- not seen since 1986. ...